Show me your work bench
#1
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Show me your work bench
I have a recessed 4 to 5' x 2' area against a stud wall in my basement that I am considering making into my work bench with a peg board to hold my tools, a vise and a bench mounted polishing/grinding wheel. Bike stand would be on the floor behind me.
Show me your work benches bought or made.
Show me your work benches bought or made.
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these are always fun threads. usually get pretty envious. I'll spare you mine, it's not attractive even tho I added things a few years ago that made it less cluttered & more functional such as
- shelves w/bins
- old dresser w drawers
- work table w bench vise
- shelf under table
- nearby tool boxes
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I would build the bench a few inches deeper than the recess. Assuming you are putting a vise on the corner, you will need some access from the side for oversize objects.
#5
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My work bench is not visible because it is about two feet deep in car, woodworking, home and bike projects. These have even spilled over onto the top of the table saw. Clearing workspace is an ongoing chore.
#6
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But is you could see it it would look like below (more like the one in the background).... built using 2/4, plywood and simpson strong tie bench connector kit you can also build one with the pegboard pm the back

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In theory mine could double as a Dinning room table but mostly its full of tools and parts
. I have dreams of someday having a garage with a workbench and my Dads 50+ year old bench vise mounted to it


#8
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I have a 1930s drafting table adjacent to a smaller all-steel bench. Pegboard above and pegboard on the side wall. Bicycle storage hooks (what a concept
) in the garage rafters.
Code-minimum 2-car garage -- just enough room for two compact-midsize cars (Audi A4, VW Passat) and my toys ... er, tools and bikes.

Code-minimum 2-car garage -- just enough room for two compact-midsize cars (Audi A4, VW Passat) and my toys ... er, tools and bikes.
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"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." --Theodore Roosevelt
Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
Carlton: 1962 Franco Suisse, S/N K7911
Peugeot: 1970 UO-8, S/N 0010468
Bianchi: 1982 Campione d'Italia, S/N 1.M9914
Schwinn: 1988 Project KOM-10, S/N F804069
"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." --Theodore Roosevelt
Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
Carlton: 1962 Franco Suisse, S/N K7911
Peugeot: 1970 UO-8, S/N 0010468
Bianchi: 1982 Campione d'Italia, S/N 1.M9914
Schwinn: 1988 Project KOM-10, S/N F804069
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I used ideas from Paul Sellers https://paulsellers.com/workbench-gallery/ to build a dining table for my son that will one day be a workbench. Pretty satisfying and I got good at sharpening my bench plane. This is Paul's. The one I built is level and the aprons are shorter.

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Not a good pic but I built a temporary rolling bench until I get windows in one wall and the rest of the shop area built out with a permanent bench against the window wall. Park stand now anchored to the bench for a while.
Stuff in the garage lives by a rule: if it's not up off the floor it's on wheels.
Stuff in the garage lives by a rule: if it's not up off the floor it's on wheels.

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I only have once bench in use, and it's a traditional Scandinavian-style woodworking bench. I actually had it cleared off sometime late last year. Right now it's about a half hour from being cleared off.
I'm afraid the way I cover flat surfaces with projects, a bench in an alcove would be unusable pretty quickly
I'm afraid the way I cover flat surfaces with projects, a bench in an alcove would be unusable pretty quickly
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I built this workbench for my cabinet making business 40 years ago and it has been in continuous use ever since. It is 4' x 8' and the same height as my Dewalt table saw . it is the right height for standing or sitting on a bar stool and it is on castors as is everything else in the shop so it can be moved around if necessary.

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Somewhere in there is a work bench. For some reason, the patio table just seems easier to get to.
43 years in the same house, still room for two cars, 7 bikes and laundry in the 2 car garage, well sort of.
43 years in the same house, still room for two cars, 7 bikes and laundry in the 2 car garage, well sort of.

Last edited by Slightspeed; 04-04-19 at 10:30 PM.
#14
Holy Spokes it's Batsman!



First let me say that I am not a builder! I built this 2' x 6' bench in 2016 when I was insulating my shop and I wanted it to be solid because I was mounting a huge vice on the corner and I didn't want the bench to ever move. I didn't take as many pics as I thought but here are a few as I was building it. What can't be seen is the Steel I used in the left corner to tie it all together and mount the vice, the 2x4's you see in the last pic each supported over 250lbs just as you see them, they were bolted and nailed in place. Also you will notice that it looks wonky because the garage is on a pitched concrete pad and the bench is level tied in to a bench I built years ago on the right side which is also bolted in place.
Glenn
#15
Holy Spokes it's Batsman!

This is the vise I mounted bolted down through a 1/4" solid peice of Steel under and tied into the bench. I have put some brute force on it since I mounted it and not even a creek was heard.
Glenn
Sorry about the huge pics, I don't know how to make them smaller.
#16
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What's the purpose of the gigantic aprons and enormous tool tray on a woodworker's (or anyone's) bench. I am bad about tools collecting on my bench but that is crazy and I can not imagine the purpose of those aprons.
#17
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It's an easier way to give the bench strength and keep it all square while bypassing lower rails and/or stretcher. Less elegant to be sure. I prefer a smaller tool tray.
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"98% of the bikes I buy are projects".
"98% of the bikes I buy are projects".
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#19
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Spring cleaning...
Come on Spring!!!
Gotta get shop cleaned up!!!
Grabbed the opportunity with two days of no rain to makes some progress on my outside shop bench(s).
One made from a huge, free pallet.
Too many variables...gonna build the next one from scratch.
Mean while my inside shop is full of my winter built projects and on going projects!!!



Gotta get shop cleaned up!!!
Grabbed the opportunity with two days of no rain to makes some progress on my outside shop bench(s).
One made from a huge, free pallet.
Too many variables...gonna build the next one from scratch.
Mean while my inside shop is full of my winter built projects and on going projects!!!



#21
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I set up a workspace in a corner of my barn last year.
#22
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well I got cleaned up enough to sort of see it
if you look close you can see a tubie sporting a diabloscott fold, and a pair of KKT pro-ace pedals and a bunch of other stuff
the bright colored drawers on the left are re-purposed from when my son used them for legos and magic tricks
this was built using a simpson strong tie bench kit
if you look close you can see a tubie sporting a diabloscott fold, and a pair of KKT pro-ace pedals and a bunch of other stuff
the bright colored drawers on the left are re-purposed from when my son used them for legos and magic tricks
this was built using a simpson strong tie bench kit

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Better photo of my roller, taken upon completion of the Park stand install and before it became a mess.

#25
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Large, Nedium, and Small
Large for bench vise and various projects.
